The MirrorARCHIVES: Aug 12-18.2004 Vol. 20 No. 8  
Vidiot's Box

Tod Browning's decision to use real pinheads with bona fide ribbons of drool in his 1932 cult classic Freaks resulted in a 30-year ban in Great Britain. Of course, today filmmakers would simply design a flattened head prosthetic for Kidman or stick Theron in the make-up chair for hours to avoid such unsightly controversy. But not the master of macabre. He cast legit carnies to play a gang of tightly-knit circus sideshow acts that seek revenge on an evil able-bodied trapeze artist. Go behind the scenes in the newly released special edition DVD, which includes a documentary about Browning as well as three alternate endings.

After feasting your eyes on the bearded lady basking in her postnatal bliss and the "human torso" rolling cigarettes with his mouth, cleanse your palate with the TigerBeat vampire slayers in The Lost Boys. The '80s has-been showcase that marked the beginning and the end of the Corey revolution has just come out as part of a two-disc collector's version. Amazingly, Haim and Feldman found time in-between rehabs to record a commentary track to go along with the other retrospective features. » Sarah Rowland

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